1. Field
This disclosure generally relates to the field of gaming. More particularly, the disclosure relates to games of chance.
2. General Background
An instant lottery game typically allows a player to determine if he or she has won the lottery game instantly and the exact amount of the prize won instantly. The instant lottery game may be operated through a terminal at a lottery vendor. For example, the lottery vendor may have an instant lottery ticket dispensing machine that communicates with a central server. The instant lottery ticket dispensing machine may determine the assortment of indicia on the instant lottery game ticket at the time the instant lottery game ticket is purchased.
However, the sale of terminal generated instant lottery game tickets may involve a phenomenon called palming. When a player orders an instant lottery ticket at a point-of-sale location, the vendor may be able to quickly look at certain types of instant lottery game tickets and quickly determine if the instant lottery game ticket is a winning ticket prior to and/or during sale of the instant lottery game ticket. The vendor may then surreptitiously take that winning lottery game ticket for himself or herself and quickly provide the purchaser with another instant lottery ticket that may not be a winning instant lottery ticket. As a result, players may unfairly not receive their prizes. Further, potential instant lottery game players may be discouraged from purchasing instant lottery game tickets. Consequently, palming has functioned as a constraint on the sale of many terminal generated instant lottery games.
In addition, draw based games are often offered by lotteries. A player may purchase a ticket having thereon a set of numbers or symbols. At a subsequent time after the player purchases the lottery ticket, the lottery may perform a drawing. The drawing is a selection of a set of game winning numbers or symbols. Accordingly, the player may compare the set of numbers or symbols on his or her purchased lottery ticket with the set of subsequently drawn game winning numbers or symbols to determine if a prize winning match results after the comparison. Many of the current draw based games simply lack excitement for the player as the player has nothing else to do to play the game other than make a comparison.
Further, some lottery jurisdictions do not allow instant lottery games to be printed on tickets from a terminal. As a result, such lottery jurisdictions do not have the ability to provide the same types of instant lottery games as other lottery jurisdictions.